Dairi villagers intensify efforts to reclaim land
Dairi villagers intensify efforts to reclaim land
JAKARTA (JP): A group of villagers from Dairi regency in North
Sumatra continued their campaign yesterday to draw the attention
of the central government and military to a land dispute that is
turning violent.
The villagers, who have been in town for the past week, split
into two groups yesterday to lodge their pleas, one group going
to see the Armed Forces (ABRI) faction at the House of
Representatives and another to the office of the Coordinating
Minister of Political Affairs and Security Soesilo Soedarman.
They failed on both attempts.
A spokesman for the ABRI faction told them that all the
representatives were engaged at various hearings yesterday. At
the office of Soesilo, they were met by one of his aides.
The villagers are from Parbuluan, where a land conflict has
been brewing over the past few months and which has erupted into
physical violence in recent weeks, forcing many of them to flee
for safety.
The dispute is over a 1,300 hectare of communal land, owned by
the Bius Lottung Sinaga Situmorang clan, which is being acquired
by a private plantation company. The majority of the farmers
opposed the sale of the land but a small group apparently cut a
deal behind their backs to sell the entire tract.
The Dairi regency office has declared the sale as legal.
The farmers who oppose selling the land said there has been
intimidation, involving the local military, to force them to
leave their land. Some of the villagers have also been arrested,
they said.
Dairi officials have denied any military involvement and said
the arrests were made because they were disrupting the peace.
The day was not entirely wasted yesterday for the Parbuluan
villagers, whose stay in Jakarta has been supported by a number
of non-governmental organizations.
They found sympathetic ears from the faction of the Indonesian
Democratic Party (PDI) at the House and also from a legal aid
institution of Golkar, the ruling political group.
"We will send an investigation team to the Dairi regency
before the Idul Fitri celebration," Soetardjo Soerjogoeritno, a
PDI legislator, said during the meeting with the farmers.
The meeting was hastily arranged after the villagers could not
meet with the ABRI faction. Soetardjo, who is deputy chairman of
Commission II of the House, was accompanied by Sabam Sirait, a
senior PDI legislator, in the meeting.
Help
The villagers said they were seeking help to repossess their
land. They also asked the faction's help for security and
protection against torture and intimidation.
"We don't want compensation, no matter how much the company is
willing to pay," Opung Lira Simbolon, one of the delegates, said.
"The land has been handed down through generations and we intend
to pass it on to our children and grandchildren," she added while
crying.
Soetardjo promised that his faction would do all it can to
help them get their land back.
Meanwhile Martin Hutabarat, chairman of the Golkar's Legal Aid
and Counseling Institute (LPPH), said on a separate occasion that
the institute would send a team to help settle the dispute.
"I will lead the team to Dairi in the next two days," Martin
was quoted by Antara news agency as saying. "We will do our best
to settle the dispute and provide protection and guarantee the
villagers' security and safety." he added.
The pledges from LPPH and PDI faction followed a similar
promise by the National Commission on Human Rights, made last
week to the same villagers, to send a fact finding team to the
area.
Commission member Albert Hasibuan will head the team which is
scheduled to leave today.
The second group of farmers, who went to Soesilo's office
yesterday, managed to present their petition and photographs of
their homes that had been demolished by the authorities.
The group was met by Soesilo's assistance Edi Mastara W.(imn)